Art

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Art

Larger-Than-Life Insects Lurk Around Abandoned Buildings in Anamorphic Street Art by Odeith

Though mostly known for his trompe l’oeil lettering, Portuguese street artist Odeith has recently been adding larger-than-life insects to his repertoire. Many of the wall-based works are placed in corners and require careful planning to achieve an anamorphic effect. You can see more from Odeith on Instagram.

 

Animation Art Photography

Light Painting Animations Create Dazzling Effects Around Glass Spheres

During his last few months in school, recent University of Maryland graduate Josh Sheldon built a light animation robot scaled to the size of his small college bedroom. For the personal project, Sheldon taught himself Blender, Python, and Dragonframe in just under two weeks. The device allowed him to create dazzling effects around spheres and cubes, with each animation taking between four and twelve hours to shoot. You can view the process behind Sheldon’s robot in the view below, and take a look at the code he used for each of his light paintings over on Github. More of Josh’s work, including these light portraits, can be found on his Instagram. (via Prosthetic Knowledge)

Art

‘Modern Frescoes’ Present Luminous Women in Layers of Translucent Pigment by Ali Cavanaugh

St. Louis-based artist Ali Cavanaugh paints dreamlike watercolors of female subjects on wet clay panels. She refers to her works as “modern frescos,” due to their similarity to the fresco-secco style of painting, and the luminosity she creates through a method of layering translucent pigments on bright white surfaces. In each portrait Cavanaugh aims to paint the minute details of her subject’s physical appearance, while also evoking a “tender unseen presence that transcends understanding in the depth of a soul.”

Her work is currently included in the group exhibition Painting the Figure Now at the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art in Wausau, Wisonsin through September 28, 2018. Her new book Modern Frescoes, published by Unicorn Press, will be available for preorders this fall. You can see more of Cavanaugh’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

Art Design Illustration

A Pop-Up Homage to Caspar Henderson’s Book of Barely Imagined Beings by Maria Chernakova

Russian designer Maria Chernakova, who uses Mary Komary as her professional name, created a unique pop-up interpretation of one of her favorite books. The original beloved tome by Caspar Henderson, titled The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, is a comprehensive guide to the natural history of real animals that are so fantastic they seem to be a product of mythology. In Chernakova’s imaginative interpretation, pop-ups, hand-drawn illustrations, and charts and diagrams depict charming aquatic animals from the nautilus to the axolotl. She created just one copy of the book, which is divided into two volumes and contains a total of ten pop-up structures. You can see more of the St. Petersburg-based designer’s commercial and personal work on Behance and Instagram.

Art

Dizzying Scrolls of Hand-Colored Paper Form Bas-Relief Sculptures by Hadieh Shafie

Artist Hadieh Shafie uses carefully hand-dyed and rolled paper to form dense surfaces. In some works, each set of concentric circles is an equal depth, creating small planes in the topography of the finished piece. Her ‘Spike’ series features sharp spiraled cones that protrude toward the viewer. In addition to the colorful edging, calligraphy is also incorporated on the paper scrolls. Most recently, Shafie has been adding an additional dimension by dipping the finished scrolls into ink to create the appearance of shadows. The artist describes her process in an artist statement:

On the surface, what the viewer sees are the fore-edges of miniature scrolls made of strips of paper. Using a limited color palette, each strip of paper is dyed with acrylic pigments, and then rolled by hand, one upon another, to create a multitude of color combinations for each emerging scroll. The rolling process places razor thin edges of color closely together, creating a space for the viewer’s eye to blend adjoining colors.

Shafie was born in Tehran, Iran and is currently based in Brooklyn. The artist shares with Colossal that her work is “a visual response to the emancipating effect [of] books and poetry” that she has experienced. Shafie holds two MFA degrees and her work is in collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, among others. You can see more of her intricate paper work on her website and Instagram. (via #WOMENSART)

Art

Colorfully Eroded Busts Explore Abstract Perceptions of Interiority by Christina West

Artist Christina West sculpts eroded portraits of anonymous faces which reveal colorful patches existing just below the surface. Segments of the subject’s face are worn away or chopped off, focusing the viewer’s attention on the layered interior of the busts, rather than their exterior features. The work is an investigation into the complexity of one’s own interiority, and suggests that what lies within is more important than surface-level aesthetics.

“I use the portrait bust format because I’m interested in the expectation we place on portraiture to reveal something about an individual’s interiority,” explains West in an artist statement. “I have always felt that making inferences about a person’s psychology or personality from physical likeness is a highly flawed practice, though we make such inferences instinctively. In the Unmet series, I create portrait busts that disrupt the impulse to read into facial features or expression by removing much of the figure’s likeness.”

The busts are each solid casts, with multiple colors layered in the interior. The removal of specific facial elements happens after the objects are cast, when West excavates swatches of color in unpredictable patterns. The Atlanta-based sculptor has an upcoming exhibition at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh from September 21, 2018 to April 8, 2019 as a part of her residency at the institution. You can see more of her sculptural portraits on her website and Instagram.

Art

Carbon Copy: A Glitched Vintage Plymouth Stands on End in a Canadian Parking Lot

Calgary-based artists Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett (previously) create large, public installations that invite people to engage in a shared experience. Their latest work cruised into Edmonton’s Brewery District late last month—a blue 1988 Plymouth Caravelle balanced perfectly on its front bumper and headlights. At first glance the car appears to have stuck a perfect vertical landing after a tragically wrong maneuver, but upon closer inspection one notices glitched segments that protrude from the vehicle’s body and front wheel.

These vehicular manipulations were formed from fiberglass to make the car look as if it had been hastily copied, thus the installation’s name, Carbon Copy. The title is also a comment on mass production and consumer culture, reminding passersby of the rate at which cars are marketed and produced, especially in the car-obsessed cultural of North America. The parking lot is a fitting environment for the 30-year-old vehicle, and makes its position all the more jarring when viewed.

Carbon Copy was commissioned by First Capital Realty and Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada’s Arts Program Initiative, facilitated by Zebra Public Art Management, and fabricated by F&D Scene Changes. At night, the car’s signal and tail lights illuminate, and a scanner bar strobes the surrounding parking lot every 20 seconds. You can take an in-depth look at the inspiration and instillation behind the public work on the vehicle’s blog. (via Edmonton Journal)